GROWTH AND HERBAGE YIELD OF Celosia argentea AS INFLUENCED BY PLANT DENSITY AND NPK FERTILIZATION IN DEGRADED ULTISOL

Abstract

The effect of five plant densities (8,0000, 160,000, 250,000, 444,444 and 1,000,000 plants ha-1) and three levels of fertilizer (0, 200 and 400 kg NPK ha-1) on growth and yield of Celosia argentea was evaluated on degraded ultisol at Evboneka, Edo State, Nigeria in 2005 and 2006 cropping seasons. The trial was a 5 x 3 factorial arrangement fitted into a randomized complete block design in three replicates. Results revealed that plant density and fertilizer application affected significantly (P < 0.05) affected the plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, leaf area index and total dry weight leading to higher herbage yield. The plants grown under high plant density and fertilizer application level had higher degree of foliation and total dry weight than plants grown under lower plant density and fertilizer application levels. The greatest yield (13.67 tonnes hectare) was produced from a population of 444,444 plants with 400kg fertilizer rate. The production cost increased from $ 79.570 – $ 790.18, revenue from $ 1,008.00 – $ 2,460.60, gross margin from $ 948.08 – $ 2151.00, net income from $ 928.43 – $ 2,072.92 and benefit-cost ratio from 1.34 – 14.55 for the various treatment combinations. The best herbage yield was a population of 80,000 plants with 400 kg fertilizer rate based on the fact that it had the greatest benefit-cost ratio (14.55).